Ubisoft has confirmed that the closed The Division beta was three times more popular than it expected.
The Division closed beta started on January 28 on Xbox One, with the PS4 and PC beta access starting on January 29.
It was originally scheduled to finish on January 31, but was extended an extra day due to the beta’s immense popularity.
Now, Julian Gerighty, Creative Director at developer Massive Entertainment, has revealed that the figures were actually three times the size of the expected players.
“We had per platform figures that were multiplied by three for the final test,” explained Gerighty in an interview with TrustedReviews. “It surprised everybody. It’s great. I mean we had the server capacity to cope with it, so I’m super happy with the results.”
Related: 5 things you need to know about The Division
Gerighty believes that the fact The Division is launching on PC as well as Xbox One and PS4, unlike its rival Destiny, has helped fuel the game’s popularity.
“There’s a real care and attention on this PC version,” added Gerighty. “Because Massive comes from a PC heritage, and REd STorm, that did the PC version, comes from a PC heritage too.”
He also had one piece of advice for anyone keen to tackle The Division when it comes out on March 8 on all three platforms.
“Just don’t kill the dogs. That’s all I’m going to say. Don’t do it. You can’t kill the civilians, and we should have stopped the dogs too.”
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.